Hey, John. Looking forward to finally meeting you in real life in #Osaka. My first thought after reading your post was this: The art of progress is to ... order amid change and to preserve change amid order ~ Alfred North Whitehead On a personal note - my family moved 19 times by the time I was in college and the hardest part for me as an adult having chosen a community and living here in Rochester #ROC now for 18 years - was how to re-invent myself in the midst of so much familiarity. When we moved and I introduced myself to new friends they would only know the more recent iteration of me. Now, people in my community don't see the shifts and in fact create inertia for "who I was" vs. "who I am becoming" Anyway- these are the thoughts catalyzed this morning while I sip hot coffee on a beautiful fall day. Be well. Jennifer

Absolutely yes! +1 "we have found that the edge is not a cliff, but a fertile field awaiting our exploration."

John, Really eloquent review. I was lucky enough to interview Friedman when The World Is Flat came out http://tcollins.hipcast.com/download/7872866e-0a28-24bb-9aed-b39e3650bfd0.mp3 My favorite part of the interview was when I asked him the advice he gives his own children to which he responded "so long as you have curiosity & passion, you will be able to navigate any foreseeable future." Reading your post also reminded me of the rich work that Paul Gilding is doing on The Great Disruption. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3-19klC0nM I met Paul in San Francisco earlier this year and his story echos the concept that we (humans) don't really respond unless we are on fire. However, some amazing acts of courage and kindness do emerge in the midst of the fire. Cheers to our "interventions" or the illusion of "intervention" as we both try with all our might and all of our voices to "Wake People Up." Giving all I got, Jennifer

This is lovely, Whitney. I think the more we working contemporary parents share how we stuggle, make decisions, model strength & grace and even how we fail are all important to give our children permission to struggle as they find their own quest for a meaningful way to both contribute to the world at large and also make the most important intimate decisons of their lives.

John, I am so compassionate regarding #thegreatdisruption, especiallly for men 45-60 raised in Western culture. There was an entire generation that was told "know as much as possible and you will inherit the earth." Many people sacrificed so much in order to attain and control knowledge. In today's economy -- being a conduit--allowing informataion to move through you and to aggregate people who have the knowledge is the new power. You are in such a visible position and you have the leverage to teach and educate this entire generation on how to surrender "control" and how to seek being a "conduit." We used to be the content and now we are the container. I wish you clarity & courage as you lead this transformation. Jennifer

Your project is a great example of how collaboration can be contained in a way that everyone benefits from their effort. I think some people are afraid to collaborate because they aren't sure and don't trust they "will be invited to the party." Your reverse engineered process resolves that fear. Bravo!